The story of the Transportation of Convicts to Australia is
probably best documented by Robert Hughes in his hefty volume,
The Fatal Shore, published in 1986.
Dr. Anthony Vaver in this book, Bound With An iron Chain has
tried to create a similar work albeit about Transportation of
Convicts to the American Colonies. Whilst not a complete history
of how the British dealt with their overflowing prisons of the 18th
century, it does serve as an excellent introduction to the often
unknown story of transportation to America, prior to the birth of
the USA. The author lists 50,000 souls transported, but others
found themselves bound for America too for whom records are scant.
There are chapters on England's Criminal Underworld, The Business
of Transportation, Convict Voyages, and Plantation Life; all backed
up with primary and secondary sources from the time, making the
book quite an eye opener for those with little if any knowledge of
the subject.
A good read for history buffs of all ages.
Published in 2011, 336 pages.
With full notes and bibliography.
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Bound with an Iron Chain: The Untold Story of How the British Transported 50,000 Convicts to Colonial America Kindle Edition
by
Anthony Vaver
(Author)
Format: Kindle Edition
Anthony Vaver
(Author)
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Product description
About the Author
Anthony Vaver is the author and publisher of EarlyAmericanCrime.com, a website that explores crime, criminals, and punishments from America's past. He has a Ph.D. from the State University of New York at Stony Brook and an M.L.S. from Rutgers University. He is currently working on a new book about early American criminals. He has never spent a night in jail, but he was once falsely accused of shoplifting.
--This text refers to the paperback edition.
Product details
- ASIN : B0059UK5E2
- Publisher : Pickpocket Publishing (30 June 2011)
- Language : English
- File size : 1255 KB
- Simultaneous device usage : Unlimited
- Text-to-Speech : Enabled
- Screen Reader : Supported
- Enhanced typesetting : Enabled
- X-Ray : Not Enabled
- Word Wise : Enabled
- Print length : 358 pages
- Best Sellers Rank: 305,302 in Kindle Store (See Top 100 in Kindle Store)
- Customer Reviews:
Customer reviews
4.4 out of 5 stars
4.4 out of 5
59 global ratings
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Top reviews from other countries

Malcolm
5.0 out of 5 stars
Good Introduction to the story of Transportation of Convicts to America.
Reviewed in the United Kingdom on 27 September 2014Verified Purchase
3 people found this helpful
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Diana Falkiner
5.0 out of 5 stars
This book was recommended to me as very useful research about transportation to ...
Reviewed in the United Kingdom on 5 March 2016Verified Purchase
This book was recommended to me as very useful research about transportation to America, something I suspect is little known. Transportation to Australia is what comes to mind. It is very readable, an excellent resource, and came on time and in very good condition.

MS M K JONES
5.0 out of 5 stars
Five Stars
Reviewed in the United Kingdom on 31 May 2017Verified Purchase
Excellent, well written.

J. Gordon
5.0 out of 5 stars
Tossing my rose-colored glasses was never so much fun
Reviewed in the United States on 29 January 2019Verified Purchase
I had no idea English convicts were a big part of settling English colonial America. Nor did I know England's shipping of convicts to Australia only started after the American revolution because American colonists could finally reject convict transportation ships from England.
Here are some my favorite quotes from the Bound with an Iron Chain:
“In 1739, Governor William Gooch of Virginia complained to the British government that ‘The great number of Convicts yearly Imported here, and the impossibility of ever reclaiming them from their vicious habits have occasioned a vast Change to the Country.’“
“When Samuel Johnson famously quipped in 1769 that the American colonists ‘are a race of convicts, and ought to be thankful for any thing we allow them short of hanging,’ such a sentiment would not have sat well with Americans. After all, the British government was responsible for populating America with its unwanted convicted felons against the wishes of many colonists.”
“Eventually, convict labor became so popular that it essentially replaced indentured servitude, so when convict transportation came to an end at the start of the American Revolution, slavery became the only source of cheap labor available to plantation owners. With white laborers out of the picture, slavery kept the plantation system running, but it also ran counter to the ideals of equality that initially fueled the Revolution. As a result, an ideology of racial inferiority not only began to develop, but became necessary for justifying the continued existence of slavery. Back in Great Britain, as the jails and prisons began to fill up in the absence of a place to send its criminals, Parliament was forced into implementing extreme alternatives by first housing convicts on prison hulks [ships] and then shipping them halfway around the world to Australia.”
“Whereas before the war [1776] free immigrants arriving in America were by far the minority, after the war they became the majority. Nearly two-thirds of all immigrants who came to America after the Revolution were free, compared to only about a quarter before this time. Slaves and indentured servants continued to make up the difference until importing African slaves was finally banned in 1808.”
The book's sources include websites for searching the court records of Old Bailey, the infamous London court, plus other databases of early settlers to English colonial America.
Here are some my favorite quotes from the Bound with an Iron Chain:
“In 1739, Governor William Gooch of Virginia complained to the British government that ‘The great number of Convicts yearly Imported here, and the impossibility of ever reclaiming them from their vicious habits have occasioned a vast Change to the Country.’“
“When Samuel Johnson famously quipped in 1769 that the American colonists ‘are a race of convicts, and ought to be thankful for any thing we allow them short of hanging,’ such a sentiment would not have sat well with Americans. After all, the British government was responsible for populating America with its unwanted convicted felons against the wishes of many colonists.”
“Eventually, convict labor became so popular that it essentially replaced indentured servitude, so when convict transportation came to an end at the start of the American Revolution, slavery became the only source of cheap labor available to plantation owners. With white laborers out of the picture, slavery kept the plantation system running, but it also ran counter to the ideals of equality that initially fueled the Revolution. As a result, an ideology of racial inferiority not only began to develop, but became necessary for justifying the continued existence of slavery. Back in Great Britain, as the jails and prisons began to fill up in the absence of a place to send its criminals, Parliament was forced into implementing extreme alternatives by first housing convicts on prison hulks [ships] and then shipping them halfway around the world to Australia.”
“Whereas before the war [1776] free immigrants arriving in America were by far the minority, after the war they became the majority. Nearly two-thirds of all immigrants who came to America after the Revolution were free, compared to only about a quarter before this time. Slaves and indentured servants continued to make up the difference until importing African slaves was finally banned in 1808.”
The book's sources include websites for searching the court records of Old Bailey, the infamous London court, plus other databases of early settlers to English colonial America.
2 people found this helpful
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Bhingi
1.0 out of 5 stars
INFERIOR COVER, BINDING AND PAGES
Reviewed in the United States on 26 July 2018Verified Purchase
I buy a lot of books from amazon. However, this one right out of the wrapping, began to curl up like cheap cardboard.
Both back and front covers have to be held down while reading. The cover of this book is garbage. Even the pages are warping.
A stamp on the last page says
“MADE IN USA.
MIDDLETOWN, DE
23 JULY 2018”
Has this book been put together in someone’s basement?
This may be a good book but I’ll never know. The quality of the materials is so bad I’ll either donate it to the library where maybe they can recover it, or, I can rip off the covers and at least read the wavy pages as fast as I can before they wrinkle into themselves.
BUYER BEWARE. From now on, I will definitely stay away from buying amazon books.
Both back and front covers have to be held down while reading. The cover of this book is garbage. Even the pages are warping.
A stamp on the last page says
“MADE IN USA.
MIDDLETOWN, DE
23 JULY 2018”
Has this book been put together in someone’s basement?
This may be a good book but I’ll never know. The quality of the materials is so bad I’ll either donate it to the library where maybe they can recover it, or, I can rip off the covers and at least read the wavy pages as fast as I can before they wrinkle into themselves.
BUYER BEWARE. From now on, I will definitely stay away from buying amazon books.

1.0 out of 5 stars
INFERIOR COVER, BINDING AND PAGES
Reviewed in the United States on 26 July 2018
I buy a lot of books from amazon. However, this one right out of the wrapping, began to curl up like cheap cardboard.Reviewed in the United States on 26 July 2018
Both back and front covers have to be held down while reading. The cover of this book is garbage. Even the pages are warping.
A stamp on the last page says
“MADE IN USA.
MIDDLETOWN, DE
23 JULY 2018”
Has this book been put together in someone’s basement?
This may be a good book but I’ll never know. The quality of the materials is so bad I’ll either donate it to the library where maybe they can recover it, or, I can rip off the covers and at least read the wavy pages as fast as I can before they wrinkle into themselves.
BUYER BEWARE. From now on, I will definitely stay away from buying amazon books.
Images in this review

2 people found this helpful
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